Which to use
“taut” is a verb and “true” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,293
- “taut” frequency rank
- #9,645
- “true” frequency rank
- 58938
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | taut | true |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs tauen | wahr, richtig |
Where the eye mixes taut and true
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. taut (CVVC) and true (CCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses taut with true
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: taut is [taʊ̯t] while true is [tɹuː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58938, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
taut is recorded at frequency rank #49,293, classified as averb, pronounced [taʊ̯t]. true is at rank #9,645, tagged as anadj, pronounced [tɹuː].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 58938, this pair ranks #843,530 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of taut vs true
Shared letters: tu. Private to "taut": a. Private to "true": er.
"taut" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "true" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "taut" for "true" ever safe?
Frequency check: "taut" vs "true" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "taut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "true" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #843,530 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "taut" and "true" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Taft vs taut". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #843,530 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.